Paying for College the Smart Way

Paying for college isn't a simple process. With the right resources, however, you can fund your education in the best possible way. Just take the time to do the research and figure out what options are out there. This article offers some good advice for any student or parent who's worried about paying for college.

 

Not everyone has enough saved up for college-- and with the price of higher education these days, it's not surprising.

Tax Credits / Flickr / CC BY

File Your FAFSA

Submitting the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is one of the most important steps prospective students will take in attempting to fund their education. Based on your income level (and parents for those under the age of 24), filing the FAFSA will give the government and your school a good idea of what you and your family should plan to pay for your education.

Too often, students neglect to file the FAFSA because they think that their family has earned too much to receive aid; this is a common misconception. Even if you don't receive much federal aid, most students are still eligible for loans from the federal government.

There are also a number of scholarships, grants, and educational loans that require you to submit the FAFSA in order to be eligible. For a quick overview of the difference between grants and loans, and what types of loans are available, see the chart below. To read about financial aid in greater detail, to file the FAFSA, and to get some career guidance as you start your education, visit studentaid.ed.gov.

FAFSA.ed.gov

Remember that the FAFSA is free. Free is literally in its name. Don't pay someone to file it for you!  If it's very confusing for you, your school's financial aid center might have resources to help. Also you might find the frequently asked questions on studentaid.ed.gov helpful.

Money you don't have to pay back:
special rules:

Grants
usually need-based

Scholarships
based on need or merit, sometimes have GPA or program of study requirements

Money you must pay back:

Subsidized Loans
gov't pays interest while in school, locked low interest rate

Unsubsidized Loans
borrower pays interest at all times, locked low interest rate

Private Loans
interest rates change, student pays more in the long-run

FAFSA is Done! Now What?

If you've filed your FAFSA and found out what your eligibility is, but still require additional resources to help fund your education, there are a number of other options to consider. Do you qualify for any other government subsidized loans? These could work for you in small amounts, but remember that they have to be paid back. You might also qualify for various work-study programs. A work-study job is a job funded through the government at your school that is designed to allow students to work and go to school full time.

There's a limit to the number of hours you can take on as a work-study student, but usually work-study schedules are flexible; your supervisor will know that being a student is your first priority, and if there are down times while on the job, some work-study jobs will encourage you to work on homework. Many schools will also offer student jobs that are not work-study, but are instead funded through the institution. Remember that private loans should be a last resort as you seek to fund your education; they often end up with higher interest rates and costing a lot of money in the long-term.

Here students who participated in the ROTC organization in high school are rewarded scholarships to further their education.

Wikimedia Commons / / CC0

 

The Budget is Still Tight—Help!

Search for scholarships! There are a lot of resources out there for people of all different backgrounds, dispositions, and physical, mental, and spiritual types. Are you left-handed? Do you enjoy skiing? Are you entering the Allied Health field? Are you an international student? Do you speak a rare foreign language? Are your eyes two different colors? Then there's probably a scholarship for that.

Talk to high school or college counselors for more information about the scholarship search.  You can also look on your own, but be wary of some sites that might charge money to help you search. **Fastweb.com **is one reliable source and, while it does advertise heavily, it remains free for its users. Once you've set up a profile there, you can search for scholarships that are right for you and can begin applying for them.

For some students, the traditional sources of funding aren't enough. Many refuse to take out any loans, or have very poor credit and can't find anyone to cosign for a loan. You also might need to take care of a dependent while you go to school, or for any number of financial reasons the expected contribution that FAFSA declares for you is out of your reach.

It is possible to work full or part-time while in school. If you need to take on a lot of work hours, though, don't be afraid to scale back your class-hours. Don't be bullied into taking classes full-time if you're working full-time. A full-time class load is comparable to, and sometimes more time consuming than, a full-time work schedule. If this is a concern for you, start small and work your way into class loads that are ideal for your schedule. It might take an extra year or two to get your degree or certification, but don't let that be a source of discouragement.

Don't let the cost of a higher education deter you from pursuing your goals. There are plenty of resources available to help you fund your education. The trick is finding the ones that work best for you.